


and I, I took the path less travelled by.

by Budapest_All_Over_again



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble Collection, Gen, I don't know, I just love him so much
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-27
Updated: 2012-11-15
Packaged: 2017-11-17 03:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/547037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Budapest_All_Over_again/pseuds/Budapest_All_Over_again
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before Sirius died, he lived. He experienced heartbreak and euphoria, devastation and surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You spy in your brother's eye.

**Author's Note:**

> Title not mine - from poem by Robert Frost. :D  
> James' POV.

When you first awoke, you presumed that the torrential rain was a bad omen as to how the day would play out. 

And, twelve hours later, a very soaked-through and cold Sirius drove into his back yard on the motorbike you’d tinkered with last year and a haphazardly-packed suitcase. 

You don’t ask about the bruises and welts covering his side. You don’t offer sympathy. What you do offer is nothing more than what you’ve ever offered him – yourself. He is your brother, but not by blood. He became your brother the moment you realised on the Hogwarts Express all those years ago that he needed a way out of his blood-purist family, and that you could provide that opportunity. He became your brother the second you became Animagi together. He became your brother when he sat by you at your grandparents' funeral, despite his cousin being accused of the murders. Sirius swaggered into your life when you needed him, not just as a friend - but as a companion who was willing to stand by you in thick in thin. Is that not what brothers are?

So as he settles into a guest room at your parents’ house (although, to be fair, Sirius had been staying there for weeks every summer since first year), you tell him the room is his. He nods, just once. 

Your best friend is a hard nut to crack. He never gives away his emotions, instead being a carefree person who pretends that nothing can get him down. You’d only seen him this serious once before, when he’d nearly killed Snape in fifth year. He’d been worried then, sure he was going to be expelled. You could see it in his eyes when you passed him in the corridors, ignoring him for three months solid. He was resigned to his fate.

Not this time, though. You can see so many things in your comrade’s eyes. He’s grateful for everything you’ve done for him, but he doesn’t want to make a fuss over it. After all, he would do the exact same thing for you in a heartbeat. He’s worried about what’s going to happen next – worried for his brother, who he acts as though he doesn’t care for but you know better. Regulus is nowhere as strong a fighter as Sirius, and he’s being drawn to this blood nonsense. It may already be too late for the Slytherin. And there’s one other thing you can spy in your friend’s brother’s eye – the will to fight. He’s seen some awful things that you would never even dream of seeing, and he doesn’t like it one little bit. This time, he’s going to put a stop to it. 

And as he fights, he’ll have you right by his side every step of the way.


	2. No.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Black was going to be different.

Sirius Black had always been one for irony.

His name was Sirius, and yet (as his friends constantly pointed out) he had yet to be serious in something his entire life. 

On the morning of the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch final in third year, he broke his leg tripping over the Cleansweep Four he’d left haphazardly across the floor the night before.

He easily had the best personal hygiene habits out of the Marauders, and yet both his Patronus and Animagus form were a slobbering dog.

And then, of course, there was the fact that his first word was “no”. 

While walking with his mother and baby Regulus around Diagon Alley, Walburga tried to lead him down one of the side streets to drop something off at Borgin and Burke’s. He frowned, shaking his black mane vigorously. His mother tugged his hand impatiently once, twice, three times to no avail. Sirius just looked up at her with his steel grey eyes and clearly said “no”. No, he would not be going to Knockturn Alley today, thank you very much.

And this is ironic because as well as being the first, “no” was also the last thing he said to his mother. No, he was not going to stand by and watch his friends and classmates be killed because some wizard decided he was better than them, thank you very much. 

This Black was going to be different.


	3. safe.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a difference between house and home.

**safe (adj). protected from or not exposed to danger or risk; not likely to be harmed or lost.**

Six months into his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, eleven-year-old Sirius Black learnt the difference between 'house' and 'home'. 

Sirius didn't really like his house. It was too big, too lavish. His family certainly didn't make him feel any better about the place with their  _holier-than-thou_ attitude. As soon as Sirius had told them he wanted to be in Gryffindor, they grew angry , even threatening to take his food from him. Regulus had given him the cold shoulder and ignored him, simply because it made his parents happy.

No, Sirius  _really_  didn't like his house.

The Gryffindor boy's dormitory, however, was another matter. Half the curtains were singed at the corners; the roof of the beds covered in scrawls of years past proclaiming  _Mundungus is a thief_ and  _Frank loves Alice_ and _Reg Cattermole was here_. It most certainly wasn't perfect –but then again, his house  _was_  and yet it felt wrong for him to be there.

Sirius, that year, learnt that there is more to home than the physical attributes of the place; it was about who else was there. His closest friends – no, his brothers lived with him here, the four of them wreaking all sorts of havoc around the castle, despite being measly first-years.

You know that feeling, when you're truly ecstatic about something? It creeps up on you, before pouncing unexpectedly. It was like that for Sirius. He was bouncing on his bed, laughing at James’ impersonation of Professor Slughorn. Remus was rolling his eyes; Peter was grinning, the plate of bread-and-butter pudding in his lap threatening to fall onto the floor.

Somehow, for the first time, Sirius knew he – excuse the cliché - wouldn't rather be anywhere else but here, with the other three boys in this room. 

And now, if you lie on the four-poster bed in the corner of the room and look up, you can see a message etched into the wood.

_The Graduating Class of 1977 presents The Marauders; Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs called this place home._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N – Something for my wee baby Kea. Not the bird. Unless you’re taking bird to mean female in which case, yes, I would suppose so. Also for the Character Diversity Bootcamp (prompt: walls) and the Character Drabble Competition with a Twist (safe). Enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> A/N - Because I love Sirius so mu-uh-uh-uch it hurts.


End file.
